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JessiBeans β Sif
Published: 2004-07-01 14:49:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 7811; Favourites: 101; Downloads: 2343
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Without sounding like a history professor (and I feel confident Mr. Ozz will correct me if I am mistaken), Sif, second wife of Thor, is a Norse goddess of harvest and wealth, her most famous attribute being her long golden hair. Little else is known of her (though she is, perhaps, one of the oldest Norse goddesses) since Snorri Sturluson (the 13th century monk who first created a written record of the Norse pantheon) seems to have purposely left her out...The bracelet, though modified, is modelled after a piece of Viking jewelery...
Ink, colored pencils on sketchbook paper. (2004)
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Comments: 61
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Oh yeah, I remember Sif being fat. And naked. And looking less like Xena and more like the girl from "Attack of the 50 ft. Shrinking Woman."
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Beautiful. I don't think I've seen such a lovely piece done of Sif. It's said that Loki chopped off her hair and Thor commanded him to weave new hair out of spun gold.
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When I first read the title, I thought it said "Snif".....
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I thought it was Snorre Sturlarsson, his name was. 
And the world needs more beautiful and curvy women.
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you know I have to comment on this. A bigger woman, I love it when art is done of a woman NOT twiggy and "ideal." Very interesting pose, the s curve of her arm. Something seems a little awkward about her left (the braceletted one) hand, something to do with the length of the palm maybe? The angle of the neck must have been difficult, I like it. Overall awesome.
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She's got PRESENCE! this curvy beautiful woman certainly LOOKS like a goddess!
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I likes this, the pose looks great, as does the hair. Though I know nothing about Mythology, this is still a really nice piece!!
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Ah, mythology is fascinating, I highly recommend reading up on it, even a little bit (quite a lot of inspiration be had there) 
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I'll be sure to look int oit ^_^
No prob, anytime ^_^
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i feel like i should be covering my eyes and saying 'oops! excuse me....wrong room!' she looks like she's in the throes.
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What a delicious thought... I did intend her to be blissful, I never specified the cause.
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It was shamefully quick, actually... a rough sketch of this one was done in 10 minutes, inked in less than 30, and then quickly colored. Though this is total time, I did the initial sketch some 4 months ago...
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omg i love the "detail" (or insert word of choice) in the braclet and hair great job!
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"Incredible, awe-inspiring greatness" works pretty well, I think... 
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lol yup that works too! welcome
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Correct? I'd never presume to do that... But I would offer up the alternative interpretation of Sif's role in the Norse Pantheon as being that of marital fidelity (and solidarity!) though I would feign suggest the "dutiful wife" reading... The harvest/wealth axis, though not necessarily "wrong", is lazy scholarcism β why would Sif be a minor deity who embodies some chief aspects of Freya's (and others') many roles in the Pantheon? She is Thor's wife, after all, and as the God of the common man, I think Sif's role is more profound than merely D-list billing... But I could well be wrong...
It's a tragedy that so little extant Norse mythology remains, and even more so when you consider that the Anglosized days of the week are Norse in origin (except Saturday)...
Sorry about the lecture, and even more so because you knew it was coming...
It's a beautiful image, and I think denotes a certain attachment to the Goddess? Ah, you have such talent... Will you remember us little folk when you're exhibiting in the Louvre?
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Yes, Mr. Norse Expert Sir... 
I am, mythology aside, glad you like my representation. (Louvre? Will any of use be around to see it if it does happen? Maybe that can bring what's left of me to the opening...) Indeed, perhaps there is an attachment, but this is something to explore in that back-burner-ed Goddess series of mine.
No comment on the runes? I was interested to know if I'd butchered them.
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Butchered? No! Well, not unless you were intending to spell something out, in which case I'm bamboozled...
Reflecting, though, on runelore β the pattern on her bracer (it's just too big to be a bracelet...) looks like the rune Dagaz, meaning "Daybreak", which is a sly solar reference that suits Sif well...
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No, I wasn't spelling anything, that would require more effort than I had in me that day. No, I looked up runes and their meanings, and selected those most fitting the goddess (in my humble opinion)
We'll comprimise anc all it a cuff, alright? And I do wish I had thought about the connotation of the pattern, but I was just going with the simple pattern of the piece of jewelry I found. I like the layer it adds, however
Mm, yes, grovel, worship, and adore away, dear Madman.
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Yeah, okay, I can dig... (See, even smartarses overlook things...) Why Eihwaz, though? Just curious about the meaning you've aspected...
On further thought, the cuff could be seen to bear Inguz, too, which would still work, if albeit in a different (i.e. more sexual) way... Thor could get jealous...
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Which may work, because I thought, in the surviving myths of Sif, her honor is suspect, thanks to Loki...? I'll find that source again, but he supposedly made her "turn from" Thor, or so the trickster gloats.
Eihwaz, I was given to understand, as strength or dependability, also faithfulness (fidelity), though not necessarily as between husband/wife. But as aspect I would think to associate with a Goddess, especially one to be the female counterpart to Thor's universal masculinity. (Alright, now you can tear that one down... 
(Ahem, I am not feeling appropriately adored... 
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Eihwaz is the Yew rune, and the most common interpretation (I've seen) is that of Protection or even Defence... But there are other interpretations, and, to be honest, nobody can really say for sure what the "meanings" of the runes are... My instinct, though, favours the idea of defence, if only because of the practical folkloric useage of the rune...
You make a fair point about Sif's honour, though in Loki's Flyting it's entirely possible he was attacking her chief virtue simply to be defamatory, without a shred of proof, and thus sow discordance amongst the Aesir... Again, though, it's not like there's a Gospel for the Norse Myths (that Sturlusson interpolates far too much from elsewhere to be a trustworthy source...)
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See, I don't know enough to argue Runes with you yet, but soon. It's coming. Oh, yes, I'll go study, and just you wait...
The passage I have about Sif and Loki goes thusly:
The emotionally charged triangle of Sif, Loki and Thor is all the more evident in the eddic poem Lokasenna, when Sif tries to placate Loki in the midst of his malicious wrangling: "Then Sif approached, offered Loki mead from a crystal cup and said: 'Hail now, Loki, accept this crystal cup, full of antique mead. Better find one woman, among the aesir's sons, who is without fault.'
He accepted the horn and drank it down: 'You'd be the one, if only you were wary and cautious with men; but I know someone, it seems to me, who made you unfaithful to Thor, and that one was crafty-wise Loki."
One wonders how much of that truly was boasting...? I wouldn't let you bother me that much, dear...
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Having thought about it, I recall Loki did stick his winky in Sif's ninny, though he was disguised as Thor at the time (the Hammer of the Gods being off larking in Jotunheim) and so Sif can't really be accused of wrongdoing (she genuinely thought it was her husband, not the Wolf's Father) β it was when Sif slept, post-coitally, that he cut off her hair...
And curse me for a fool for not remembering that... 
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Ooo, I was right about something!
And your euphemisms are still hilarious.
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And you're often right about many things β I just like to pretend I'm all-wise, when really I know I'm just as fallible as the next guy...
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I have no problem with your playing with... -ahem- language, though you might have a spot of difficulty explaining that to my mother (yes, she checks in every day, and then quizzes me later...
Woah, wait a minute... what was that? I'm often right?? Do tell...
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(And, indeed, gulp! I bet the salted rim caused a :raisedeyebrow: ... )
Yes, indeed, often right... e.g. the quality and competence as evident in the work of yours truly
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Beautiful, love the lines and the hair! Reminds me of artwork from the 70's and a pic on the cover of my journal of the girl on the job rolling papers ad...
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Ah, I love the Job ad, that'd Mucha, I am pretty sure... Oh, she's so lovely, and quite a compliment to me that you'd compare the two (Thank you!). The hair was most entertaining, and kind of the whole purpose of this one (she was an experiment with hair before she became Sif, though I am not unhappy with the outcome)... Β‘Muchas Gracias!
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BTW, what does her headband say?
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Ah, thanks for noticing!
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"The Amazonian" or how about "Big Bertha" hahahah j/k about the 2nd one.. hahaha...
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Nah, she's just Sif... and read ~ozrics-tentacle 's comment for more clarification on who she is, as I evidently botched it.
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Like the flow of the hair and the linework generally!
You almost know more than me about norse mythology...
Will have to read Snorre`s book soon.
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I don't know THAT much about Norse mythology, though I have a friend who has been beating it into my head, I mean... kindly, gently educating me
Thank you!
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Ok, read it now, think I `ve learned something
hehe the drawing is the most important thing anyway, I think...
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My opinion exactly (I mean, who would listen to Ozz anyway, right? 
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hehe 
You`re welcome
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